The Man in the Void
by GalacticSkelly
Summary: Her childhood was one of nightmares. Her adult life was even worse. As another human fell into the Underground, how would the monsters react if she was capable of defending herself? How would they react if she had the key to their freedom hidden away? How will the Royal Scientist react when his sons take in a mage who can fix his broken soul?
1. Ruin and a Chance Meeting

This is based off of a role-play with a close friend of mine on Amino. They are an amazing person and an even better role-player. They mainly roleplay as Gaster and they're my beta-reader on this work. There are some trigger warnings. Uhmm... Child abuse, suicide mentions and attempts, medical stuff, and death.

I wrote this chapter listening to the Rock the 2000s playlist on Spotify as well as NSP's new album Under the Covers Vol II. There are a number of headcanons that I've created and added in to this tale.

Comments are appreciated, as is criticism.

Anyway, onto the story!

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When she had jumped, she expected that to be that to be the end of it. After all, death was the end of everything, right? Even necromancers knew that... Unless you could set up the ritual and have it done immediately after you died, that was it.

But when she landed- if she actually did, she had no memory of it- she woke to golden flowers and a bright light shining onto her face from above. It definitely didn't help the thudding in her head and landing on her back did nothing for the burn that The Circle had given her a week before she jumped.

In all honesty, if she knew she would still be alive down here after jumping all that way, she would have just let The Circle kill her. At least she wouldn't be hunted down here... Right?... She flinched a little as she sighed before slowly rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself onto her knees and hands. She finally sat upright after a minute of trying not to crack the burn any more than it already was by moving. Every breath stung and every movement caused a jolt of pain to shoot up her spine.

She didn't make a sound though; she knew better. She had been in painful situations enough to know that when a sound of pain was made, more was sure to follow. The Circle had done a good job of whipping that into her mind, quite literally. Instead, she took slow, shallow breaths, not letting her lungs expand entirely to calm herself down. She shakily stood, dusting herself off slowly and getting her bearings in this strange world.

It seemed like she was in a cave; however, it didn't have that musty cave smell. There were golden flowers growing down here and from the light from above, she had to be close to the surface... But how far would The Circle go to hunt her down? This was the third escape she had led but the only one in which she and the other forbidden magic users weren't immediately captured or killed...

She looked around and eventually found her soul-bound suitcase, picking it up and shrinking it to store in her bra before making her way forward through the madness that was this... Strange place.

It seemed like a dream, a horrible, never-ending cycle of the same plants and the same rocks. It was quite monotonous until she stumbled upon a plant with a face. Tilting her head and looking down at the weed at her feet, she waited for a while and just as she was about to step around it, it began talking.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" It seemed to giggle, causing a sneer to spread across her face. She hated most flowers and talking ones that giggled were worse. "Hmmm... You're new to the Underground aren'tcha? Golly you must be so confused!" She raised a dotted eyebrow, looking down at it as it winked, a small star coming off its face. "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

Her sideways soul popped out and the battle sequence began. She had done this a million times before with humans so she knew how this worked. Once her LV popped up, the flower stopped what he was doing, an almost evil grin coming across its face. "Say buddy... You have a pretty high LV... Whatcha say to... Giving me some of that?" Her soul was surrounded by bullets, the flower cackling evilly. "After all it's kill or be killed in this world. And you should know that buddy." It laughed, grinning widely as the circle began spinning and just as it was about to close in, the flower was smacked away by a fireball.

A goat monster stepped in, a fireball balancing in her palm. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor..." It was then that she noticed her LV and froze a little, clearing her throat and looking down before returning her gaze to the young woman. "Unfortunate youth... I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

"Come young one... I will guide you through the catacombs to the Ruins, where I live." She nodded slowly, putting her soul back into her body with a simple push. Being a witch with her… Specific talents, she was used to dealing with souls and on a number of occasions, had taken her own soul out to simply stare at the strange colored sideways soul. Toriel looked at her, offering a hand after putting the fire magic out. She looked at the hand, almost glaring at the goat lady. She didn't need help from anyone. Toriel sighed softly, drawing it back to herself.

Getting back to the Ruins was rather uneventful. She solved the puzzles with no problem and with hardly any help from the goat monster who watched her. She did try to NOT make enemies down here, showing Mercy for the first time in her nineteen years of life when confronted by a smaller monster. It kind of hurt a little. Mercy was never given to her.

Why should she give it to anyone else?

She stayed in the ruins for quite a while, her burn worsening daily; however, one day almost two weeks after she arrived, she went downstairs, walking down the hallway Toriel had warned her from going down. Toriel was waiting at the end, her eyes closed as she stood in front of a massive set of doors. She slowly approached, her case hidden in her bra as Toriel opened her eyes and looked at her.

"...Normally I would try to stop the children from going out... But you are more than capable of protecting yourself... I can remember the last time I saw a mage's soul..." Her shock was barely evident on her face as Toriel stepped away from the doors, letting her pass. "Please... Be careful out there... Not all the monsters will take so kindly to seeing such a high LV..." She could only nod, opening the door and walking out into the cold. The door closed behind her and a click was heard as she slowly wrapped her arms around her body, stretching the still burnt and now infected skin of her back.

Her eye twitched in pain, her lips curling into a grimace as she shivered a little. She took a deep breath, straightening up and casting a simple fire spell, cupping the small fireball in her palms to warm up a little before continuing on, the fireball disappearing. As she walked, she felt eyes on her as she stepped around a fallen branch. The branch cracked a short time afterwards, her eyes narrowing into small slits as she turned, scanning her surroundings.

Nothing but freshly fallen snow could be seen.

She sighed and shook her head, closing her eyes and slowly lifting a hand to rub her tired eyes. She didn't trust the goat lady and because of that, she didn't sleep—save for short cat naps when the monster was out searching the ruins. She yawned, trying to hide the dark circles under her eyes as she rubbed them again. She was stronger than this.

Sleep was something she had done without before.

She turned back towards the path, rubbing her eyes again and yawning widely again. Why was she so tired? In the back of her rational mind, she knew that it was because her body was hurt, she knew that sleep helped heal injured bodies. But her irrational mind was full of paranoia and worry which is why she hadn't slept yet. She shook her head to clear it again, taking a semi-deep breath to calm her racing mind and heart.

She walked a little further in the freezing weather, her shivers growing more and more noticeable as she walked on. She still felt the eyes on her back as she walked along, slowly stopping just short of a bridge as footfalls sounded behind her. She almost turned to attack whatever it was but stopped herself, biting her tongue and forcing herself to stop muttering the first spell that came to mind.

As the footfalls grew closer, she let her hands drop to her sides, clenching her fists as they finally stopped and whoever-or whatever- had walked up behind her spoke:

"don't you know how to greet a new friend? turn around and shake my hand." She almost didn't but something told her to, slowly turning and looking at the skeleton that had a hand stuck out in offering. She slowly lifted her hand, taking its hand. Just as they shook, a fart sound emitted from the skeleton's hand and it laughed, showing the small whoopee cushion in his palm. "gets 'em every time... but uh... you don't look impressed buddy..."

She shook her head, taking her hand back as he looked her over, eye-sockets seeming to widen a little at seeing her soul. That seemed to make him take a small step backwards away from her. She was used to people being frightened of her; she was a necromancer for fuck's sake. She slowly moved to turn back around, the world spinning as she stumbled a little. Her eyes closed and she shook her head to clear the racing thoughts that seemed to be overwhelming her.

"hey buddy you okay? you don't look so good." She turned back, glaring icy daggers at him.

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone." She snapped, causing him to visibly recoil. She took great satisfaction in that, turning back to continue on her path when suddenly everything went black and she fell forward. The skeleton frowned and called someone on his phone, the conversation short. A much taller skeleton raced over almost immediately after he had hung up, looking down at the smaller skeleton.

"SANS! YOU HAVE A HUMAN?! HOW DID YOU GET..." The taller skeleton seemed to stop for a moment, looking down at the unconscious human before looking back at the shorter one. "HER?" 'Sans' sighed, looking down at her and kneeling to pick her up. The taller skeleton helped as well, frowning as she made a pained face when her back was touched.

"she just fainted paps. i'm gonna call alphys and have her get ready to check her over. she's hurt..." The taller one frowned, looking at Sans who had moved the girl in his arms so her back wasn't being touched at all.

"YOU DO NOT WANT FATHER TO CHECK HER OVER? HE IS THE BEST DOCTOR IN THE UNDERGROUND."

"i don't want HIM anywhere near this human papyrus! she looks like she's been through enough. and knowing him, he'd just do experiments on her." Sans snapped, Papyrus frowning and nodding slowly as Sans sighed, looking down before looking up at his brother. "sorry papy... i didn't mean ta snap..."

"IT IS OKAY SANS. I KNOW YOU ARE STILL ANGRY AT HIM." Sans sighed, making sure she was secure in his arms. "COME. THE COLD CAN'T BE GOOD FOR HER IF SHE IS INJURED." Sans nodded and started off towards Hotlands, ignoring all the strange looks they were being given.

Undyne met them at Waterfall, holding out a spear. "Drop the human Sans! King Asgore needs her soul to break the barrier!" Papyrus moved to stand between the human, his brother, and his mentor.

"SHE IS HURT UNDYNE! REALLY BADLY. SANS SAID SHE FAINTED WHEN SHE TRIED TO WALK AWAY FROM HIS BAD PUNS." Undyne let her spear disappear as Sans stepped forward with the human. Undyne looked over the unconscious girl, her hard look somewhat disappearing as she took her from Sans.

"I'll help ya to Alphys' lab... She's gotta be gettin' heavy on ya." Sans slowly nodded, looking at Undyne who just headed to Alphys' lab. She struggled a little through Hotlands but Papyrus gave her a glass of water which helped immensely with the heat.

Soon they were at Alphys' lab and when they walked in, she had a bed waiting for the human. Alphys immediately rushed forward, taking a very quick look over before frowning.

"O-oh no... S-s-she doesn't l-look so g-good... H-h-here, s-set her here on t-the t-t-table..." Undyne eased the girl on the table, causing her to grimace and whine softly when her back was touched. Papyrus looked down at her, frowning deeply as even Sans frowned a little. Alphys began an examination, taking her heartbeat.

"i think she's got somethin' wrong with her back... she seemed like she was in pain the entire walk from the ruins. i watched her the whole way." Sans spoke as Alphys frowned, slowly sitting her up with Undyne's help and lifting her shirt. She quickly put it back down, paling a little before moving to get a medical kit.

"T-t-this is n-not g-g-good. S-she has a-a re-really b-bad b-burn o-on her b-b-back." Undyne frowned, helping her keep the human upright while Alphys took off the mage's shirt to reveal the badly infected burn spreading across her upper back.

"OH NO HOW DID SHE GET THAT? SANS WAS THAT FROM..." Papyrus started off, looking at Sans who just rolled his eyes and helped Alphys take her shirt off as Undyne held her.

"paps you know i don't even have fire magic." Sans said, the mage whining softly as Alphys worked on healing the burn the traditional way by cleaning it out and wrapping it up to keep the now opened skin from getting even more infected. "and beside, even if i did, if i had done this, it wouldn't be infected."

"I-I th-think t-this w-w-was done o-on the s-s-surface... T-th-there are s-s-still m-m-mages, aren't t-there?.." Sans looked at the girl, frowning and helping Alphys clean up as Undyne laid the girl back down with bandages covering any parts that may have been showing.

"Mages did this to her? I thought they didn't attack humans..." Undyne started, moving to sit down and look at the human on the table with a frown. "King Asgore will want to know about her." She finally said as Alphys began healing her with magic to take the infection away.

"...i'll go tell him. i can get there quicker." Sans spoke as Undyne nodded, looking at Alphys. "i'll be back." He disappeared in a flash, appearing in the golden flower filled room. He walked around for a minute before finally finding the cloaked figure he was hoping to find. "asgore?" He spoke to a cloaked figure, watching as it watered some of the flowers before stilling and standing upright to turn and face Sans.

"Yes?" A different goat monster spoke this time, looking down at the much smaller skeleton. "Oh hello Sans. How is Papyrus doing with his Royal Guard training?" The monster sat down, offering Sans a cup of tea. Sans shook his head, looking at Asgore, King of the Monsters.

"no thanks fluffybuns and he's doin' pretty good. i found a human. a woman, not a kid... she's hurt pretty badly. undyne said you'd probably wanna know 'bout her." The goat monster's eyes widened, setting his teacup down and standing to his full height before walking over to Sans.

"...Take me to see them. If they are an adult as you say, they... Will have to stay... Only a child's soul can break the barrier..." The monster stood, making his way over to Sans who teleported them to Hotlands where the human was still out of it, Asgore stepping over and pulling her soul out before gasping and gently cradling the sideways soul. "...She's a mage..."

"S-s-sir that d-doesn't m-make sense... I-if s-sh-she's a m-mage, w-why w-w-would s-she have b-been b-burnt by a m-mage?" Asgore frowned, gently moving to sit her upright after putting her soul back into her body. "S-sir?"

"...After the war between the mages and before we came down here, I... heard that... Witches who had 'unnatural powers' or 'corrupt sources' were branded and locked away and sometimes tortured... But I had assumed that... It was just a tall tale... Told to keep the monsters in line..." Asgore whispered, a finger tracing a number of scars along her back that the bandages weren't covering. What he hadn't told was that it was his idea. After a Necromancer had hurt his 'brother', he had convinced the Circle to control them. Everything was good, until she woke about halfway through his story, staying still and listening before finally speaking up.

"...It's not a tall tale... Necromancers, voodoo witch doctors, anyone that... Didn't follow The Circle's perfect image..." Everyone except for Asgore moved back when the human spoke. Asgore was still holding the mage upright, looking down at her. "...Where am I?.."

"Y-you're in m-my l-lab... S-s-sans br-brought you to m-me... H-how d-d-did you g-get burnt?.." She lifted her head to look at the nervous looking dinosaur before looking up at the King who simply let her go, laying her back down on the table gently.

"That's none of your business." She snapped, glaring at the dinosaur who squeaked and hid behind Asgore. Asgore stood up straight, looking down at the pale human who simply looked up at him, unimpressed and unafraid.

"No but it is MY business. As King of the Monsters and you now that you are here, I need to know if my people will be in danger of an attack by the mages." Asgore spoke, his voice hard and commanding as she sighed, closing her eyes and sitting up. She winced when the burn itself was tugged on, pulling her shirt back on.

"It's... A long story..." Asgore sat down in a chair that Undyne had pushed forwards for him, motioning her to begin speaking. She sighed, moving off the table to sit in a chair in front of them, looking down at her hands before muttering a spell, one all necromancers knew, the spell to summon memories. A picture began unfolding in her hands as she spread them apart, making the imagery visible for all in the room to see.  
Undyne gasped as the images flickered from a happy and content family practicing magic and casting cute spells to what seemed to be a torture room, a young girl gagged in the center of the bloody room and beaten by magical whips of different colors wielded from wands of different woods and materials.

"I was eight when I was captured the first time. My own father gave me up when I came home and told him that my magic type had been chosen by the bones. My mother agreed with his decision whole-heartedly." She let out a snicker, shaking her head as the image changed to a fiery red-haired man shoving his daughter into the arms of a cloaked figure as the child cried out, begging to be taken back.

"Can't say I blame her. The Circle didn't take to kindly to a female necromancer. See up until me, all the newborn necromancers had been males so they didn't have much trouble. But... I was the first female one in a few hundred years... So, they had to... Dust off their sterilization methods." The image changed again to a young girl being held down by straps and cut open, eventually passing out from the pain as internal organs were removed. Alphys looked like she was about to be sick while Sans and Undyne looked on in shock and horror. Papyrus had already gotten sick, having to turn away and cover his eye-sockets. Asgore appeared... Almost saddened by the story so far, his eyes full of an unknown emotion to her.

It was guilt she finally realized, smirking at him.

"I don't want to bore anyone with the gory, painful... Traumatic details, so I'll skip ahead. Even though I see them every time I close my eyes. I don't want to traumatize the skeleton there. Looks like he's already sick with it." The vision changed to a crowd of young adults running from a massive group of the same cloaked figures that had taken her as a child. The now multi-colored hair woman broke from the crowd, racing up the mountain as fast as she could. She fought back as much as she could while she ran, one of the figures falling after being hit by a black bolt. Alphys looked away just as the girl was struck in the back with a fireball, causing her to fall forward just as the image went dark and the spell was ceased, the last image shown was the woman falling into the black abyss of Mt. Ebott.

All was silent for a few moments; Undyne and Alphys looked almost sickened that someone could hurt their own kind while Sans and Papyrus just looked down, shocked silent and sickened. "...You were... Locked away and beaten by your own kind... You had the... Very thing that makes you human taken... I... Can't even begin to imagine the pain..." Asgore spoke softly after a long pause, breaking the tense silence that had filled the laboratory room. Sans stood, looking at Asgore with a determined expression as she looked at him, raising a dotted eyebrow. Even Papyrus seemed to be shocked at the resolute look on his brother's face and the speed he stood.

"she can stay with me and Papy. we have plenty of room." Asgore nodded, looking at the human. "as long as she tells us her name." She hopped off the bed, walking over and holding her left hand out, the magic spell that hid the skeletal arm fading as she grinned.

"Call me Skelly. That's the only name I'll give you. There's power in a name you know." Sans looked almost worried at the arm's sudden change but changed hands, shaking hers with relative ease. That seemed to shock her a little but that was only evident in her eyes as she looked down at their hands. He shook her hand with such ease and how could he be so calm around her? She knew he could see her soul; she felt him staring at the strangely shaped heart.

She slowly took her hand back as Papyrus stood and raced over to hug her and even go so far as to spin her around. "OH, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SUCH FUN MAKING SPAGHETTI AND TRAINING AND YOU WILL BE OUR NEW SISTER AND WE WILL WATCH METTATON MOVIES TOGETHER!" Fear and shock and a million different emotions ran through her and she had no idea how to process any of them. That information had been beaten out of her.

"Let me go. NOW." Papyrus set her down as she quickly moved away from everyone, backing into a corner and glaring at them As Asgore raised his hands in a show of peace. "Don't... Touch me. Ever. Got it?" Papyrus nodded, standing beside Sans—who had summoned a Gaster Blaster with one eye flickering blue flames-and Undyne who had summoned her spear into her hand and pulled Alphys behind her with the other hand.

"Drop the wand... We do not want a fight." Asgore spoke gently as she looked from the group to her hand where her wand had been summoned from its place inside her suitcase. "Perhaps it would be best for you to get antiquated with the Gaster brothers... On your own time. Sans, I name you guardian of her. I will inform Wingdings of her exista-" Sans cut him off before Asgore could finish his statement, shaking his head.

"no. don't tell him anything. i don't want him to know anything about her." Asgore opened his mouth to say something but he was quick to shut it again, simply nodding and sighing deeply. "you saw her memories. she's been through enough. and he'd just wanna experiment on her or question her."

"Very well. I will let you three leave... I am certain that there are arrangements to be made." Papyrus smiled widely as Sans took his hand and grabbed her, teleporting them to their home in Snowdin. Once they were safe in the skeleton's home, she jerked her hand away, glaring at Sans who just shrugged while Papyrus slowly made his way to the kitchen to make dinner. All was silent for a while, save for the sounds of Papyrus banging pots and pans together.

"Let's get something straight here. Don't touch me without my permission. Don't bother me when I'm alone. Don't even THINK of aiming those dogs at me again or I will destroy them." Sans chuckled, sitting on the couch and yawning widely as his eyesockets closed.

"alright, alright... i get the point. personal space is important to you. But i have some rules too." his eyes opened, the small white pinpoints gone and his sockets solid black now. "if you even THINK of hurting paps, you'll be in for a bad time buddy." She stepped back a little, watching him before nodding, her eyes focused on him. "tomorrow we'll fix up the shed for you. tonight, you can sleep on the couch." He stood, stretching and leaving the living room as she sat down on the couch when he left, sighing and closing her eyes.

How had her life ended up like this?

She curled up, finally drifting to sleep. Papyrus set a plate of spaghetti down for her after a few moments; "WHEN SHE WAKES UP, SHE MIGHT BE HUNGRY", he reasoned with sans. Sans left shortly after to go to Grillby's while a gentle knock sounded on the door.


	2. Through Empty Eyesockets

Wow. It's been... Almost a year. I am... So sorry for the delay. Things happened and my life kind of hit the fan for a while but now I'm back! I'll be trying to post on the regular from now on.

For all of those that have stuck by me and kept waiting for this chapter, thank you so much.

Also for a little clarification, Gaster and Skelly are literal soulmates. Things will be explained in later chapters. Please don't comment stuff about how unrealistic it is.

This is a story based off of a role-play that I'm in with a wonderful human being.

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Three Weeks before **Her** Appearance

When he had exited the Void—while he did have faint memories of that dark place, he'd rather not talk about them—he assumed everything would go back to normal. He couldn't have been in that horrid place that long. He'd be with his Firefly and they could raise Sans and Papyrus together, maybe they could even have more children not made from science. But first he had to speak to Asgore about getting his jobs back.

He pulled himself together, the Void taking its toll on his magic. It took a few moments for him to regain a physical form and even then, the first few steps caused black goop to plop onto the floor from a massive gash in his chest. His clothes manifested slowly, the lab coat appearing last on his tall, thin frame.

He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall and resting his skull on a single palm-less hand before heading off towards the castle. He walked into the castle gardens, looking around and finally leaning down to pick a flower to sniff. "One moment please." Asgore spoke as Gaster walked in, his footfalls making a soft sound as he walked up behind Asgore. He leaned down, gently tapping the King on the shoulder.

The mighty king dropped his watering pail—the water spilling from the open top and flooding the flowers—once he turned around to see who was visiting him. He froze, tearing up. "G-Gaster... Y-you..." Gaster simply smiled as Asgore stood and raced to pull his 'brother' in to a hug, crying into his shoulder. "W-we had a funeral an-and everything..."

"...I am... Terribly sorry... That cannot have been easy... But you had Toriel to get you through that." Asgore simply stayed silent, tears rolling down his cheeks and into Gaster's sweater. "Asgore... What happened with..."

"She left me... At your funeral..." Gaster's eyesockets went wide and a rage blossomed in his chest, wrapping long arms around Asgore.

"God what a bitch. I knew the marriage was not working out but to leave you at my funeral? How insensitive do you have to be? Where is she now? I'll go kick her ass." Asgore couldn't help the small chuckle that came from him, pulling away to wipe at his eyes.

"I have missed you my friend... Your home is still open to you; I made sure that it was kept cleaned and dusted... And all of your instruments are still there... I made sure no one broke in and harmed them... And I have paid your bills to make sure none were damaged by the cold. But you should talk to Sans... He was really upset at the funeral." Gaster's heart broke at that, tears lining his eyesockets.

"...How long... Have I been gone?" Asgore pulled away, looking at his brother. Asgore knew the answer wouldn't be one that his friend liked... Or wanted to hear. After a few moments of silence, Gaster looked at him. "How long Asgore?" The skeleton's voice shook a little as Asgore looked down, frowning.

He really didn't want to tell him; he didn't want to break his friend's heart.

"...Twenty years..." Gaster's eyesockets went wide, looking at his brother in shock. How had it been twenty years? He had felt like it was only a second or maybe an hour... Although, he supposed time didn't work the same in the void... That meant Sans and Papyrus had grown.

He had missed their entire lives.

The royal scientist teared up and clutched his chest, heart-wrenching sobs coming from him as he collapsed to the flowery ground, Asgore immediately calling for Alphys to come to Gaster's aid. The stuttering and shaking dinosaur monster raced in as Gaster sobbed, tears rolling down his cheekbones.

His sons were grown.

He had missed **EVERYTHING**.

His firefly was probably heartbroken.

Alphys did a preliminary check on him, taking his pulse and checking to make sure he wasn't hurt too badly. Asgore was the first to notice the black liquid staining his brother's white sweater, spreading outwards as Gaster's sobs only grew louder in volume and in pain.

"S-sir! W-wh-what should we d-do?" Alphys asked nervously as Asgore frowned and scooped Gaster up into his arms, standing up and carrying the much taller man out of the room and towards the hospital.

"Set up a hospital room and then prepare a room for observation." Alphys nodded and called into the hospital, setting up everything that Asgore had told her to. Asgore laid Gaster down on the bed, Alphys hooking him up to many machines. Gaster barely flinched at the needle being prodded into magical veins, tears still rolling down his cheekbones in thick lines to stain the pillow underneath his skull. Asgore cupped his friend's cheek and wiped his tears away, frowning.

It took hours for the tears to stop falling. It took even longer for Asgore to lull his friend into a short nap, only to have him wake an hour later with widened eyesockets and a scream that broke the mighty King's heart. The nurses came rushing in when the heart monitor they had stuck on a scarred-up ribcage began screeching at the speed of his pounding heart.

A week passed before Asgore would let him leave the hospital and it was another week before Asgore even let him leave the castle and his own observation to return to his home. By then, news of his return had spread all throughout the Underground and as he stepped out of Asgore's castle, he was greeted by...

Nothing.

No one had even come to see him.

He hadn't expected Sans and Papyrus to be there... He had left them alone for their entire lives. His firefly had probably moved on. He sighed and began walking towards his house in Snowdin, staring down at his feet as he trudged on to Waterfall. He heard the whispers of the Echo flowers as he passed through Waterfall, sighing softly as memories of lifetimes past came to his mind.

He showed Sans the flowers here... He showed him the crystals that were nothing like the stars but... They were close enough for the monsters unable to see the stars before... It all happened. Before his life had ended. Finally, once snow hit his head, he looked up.

Nothing had changed.

The shopkeeper still ran their shop and there was still that wolf monster throwing ice into the river. Monster still gathered around the tree they set up for Gyftrot as a means of peace. They had been doing that for years ever since Gaster could remember. Teens always harassed the monster and dressed the poor monster up in the most humiliating ways.

Gaster remembered one time that Sans begged him to undecorate the monster while he held Papyrus. Papyrus had just been born—which in the skeleton brothers' case meant grown in a test tube from parts of Gaster's own body since he didn't have anyone in the world he trusted his soul with—when he was pushed into the dark consuming void that was The Core.

He sighed and—with a heavy heart—made his way to his home, unlocking his front door before slowly making his way in, shutting the outside world away with a click of the heavy wooden door. He immediately went into his kitchen, turning on the florescent lights with a flick of a switch and after a few moments, the bright lights flickered on. His shoes clicked on the tile floors as he walked over to the liquor cabinet, opening it and grabbing a bottle of Irish whiskey and a glass.

He settled into one of the chairs at the table, setting up a glass of whiskey. Just as he was about drink himself into a stupor to hinder the pain of everything he loved being lost and grown, there was a series of hard knocks on his door. With a deep sigh and a crack from his knees—that knee had never healed up completely after being shot in the Great War, he thought—he stood from his chair in the kitchen, making his way to the front door slowly.

Once he opened it, his eyesockets widened.

"listen. im only going to tell you this once. stay away from papy. and stay away from me. we want nothin to do with you." Gaster's very soul broke with those words as Sans teleported away, leaving him alone in the doorway. The scientist slowly shut the door, returning to the abandoned bottle and throwing the glass away, letting it crash and break against the tiled floor as he grabbed the bottle and began drinking straight from it.

At times like this, he wasn't thankful for all the timelines and failed lives hitting him. They only served as a reminder that he was a failure; that he hurt everything he touched...

That he hurt everyone he loved. Even them...

Even his soulmate.

They were the only reason he was even still alive. He had lived through countless lives of theirs and he couldn't wait to meet this life... They were bound to be beautiful... Just like always. But he doubted that they would want a monster like him... Someone who couldn't even make sure his sons were still okay...

Someone whose own sons didn't want anything to do with him.

He sighed and took another drink, sitting down at the table. He drank himself into unconsciousness that night and the following nights, easily draining the vintage whiskey bottle before opening a much newer bottle of scotch, draining that within the week.

Asgore finally came over after a week of absence from his jobs and from the visits that his friend normally did. When the king saw what state he was in, he simply sighed and frowned, helping the still skeleton get cleaned up and dressed, giving him water. Gaster didn't complain the entire time, the large black scar on his chest steadily dripping black ooze as Asgore washed various cuts and abrasions that Gaster had acquired in his week of drunken sorrow. Gaster didn't say much as Asgore called in someone to clean up the broken glass and fix the broken walls left in the wake of his anger turned to sorrow.

"My brother... What happened?.." Asgore whispered, looking down at the skeleton in his arms. The broken man didn't answer, a stain from the steady leak of the scar on his chest staining his now discarded sweater and the rag Asgore had used to clean his abrasions. He slowly took Gaster towards the bedroom, laying him down on semi-clean sheets before covering him up with the comforter and kissing his forehead. "Sleep brother..." He whispered, sitting down at the side of the King-sized bed.

It was there he stayed—watching—until the Royal Scientist was roused from his drunken unconsciousness, looking around before immediately leaning over, grabbing the trash can, and emptying his already empty stomach. Asgore sighed and moved to get the still sickened skeleton a wash cloth for his mouth. When he returned, the scientist was weeping, tears rolling down his cheekbones from empty, hollow eyesockets.

Asgore wiped the bile from his brother's lips, the skeleton looking up at him with a broken expression that struck sorrow into Asgore's very soul.

"He doesn't want me around Asgore... He told me that neither of them wants me around..." He whispered, Asgore sighing softly and continuing to clean Gaster's face and chin. "They hate me... Their own father. And they don't even want me. Even though I want them... I want them very, very much."

Asgore frowned and moved to sit Gaster up, piling the pillows up behind him to force the limp scientist to sit upright—even though he protested with a soft groan. "Gaster. You know Papyrus will love you...You just have to give Sans time... He's just upset... I would be too if my father had just disappeared and then reappeared 20 years later." Asgore spoke, his deep voice barely a whisper as the skeleton looked away from the King.

"...It still hurts Asgore... I know it's the correct response... But it still hurts... I know it is the logical response... But that does not help the pain of my soul breaking because my own children want nothing to do with me..." He whispered, Asgore sighing softly before nodding.

"You're right... The only thing you can do is change that." Asgore leaned up and gently patted Gaster's head, looking at the broken scientist. "Grillby's is still open. You should go. You always seemed happy to be at Grillby's." Gaster just nodded, slowly standing.

"Maybe he'll have something stronger than whiskey to drown my sorrows." He joked—although the king didn't laugh—before moving to grab a new sweater and pants, leaving the bedroom to get a shower. He spent a few hours staring at his reflection in the mirror, gently trailing scuffed phalanges along the new blackened scar on his ribcage. It took some time to get into the shower, the new mark stinging with every drop of water that hit the black goo. Soon after he managed to figure out a way to bathe without being in constant pain, he walked out of his home, locking the door behind him with magic.

He turned to head towards Grillby's but froze, seeing the flame monster arm-in-arm with his wife... The very wife he said he had left. He felt the crack in his soul get bigger and... Well he couldn't help but clutch his chest, the sorrow filling entire body. He couldn't do anything but teleport away, leaving a small flurry of snow kicked up by the magic in his wake.

When he arrived in Waterfall, he did nothing but sink to his knees, the joints cracking and protesting at the action. He let the tears fall—tears of sorrow and pain. First his sons and now his lover? What next? His very soulmate?

He had no idea where they were in this line—or rather at that specific moment—but he knew that they would probably have met Sans or Papyrus by then... They would have been filled with lies and hurtful untruths... Or were they truths? He did leave his children all alone. But that wasn't his fault.

Was it?

He moved his legs out from under him slowly, the pain in his kneecap too much to bear any longer. His legs straightened with snapping noises, causing a pained whimper to come from him. He sat there for a while, letting the tears roll down his cheekbones without much sound other than the soft sniffles echoing in the cave.

Soft footfalls alerted him of someone approaching him, but he couldn't even care to turn and look at the approaching figure, looking down at his reflection in the murky water. Undyne appeared over his reflection, armor hiding most of her features. She reached up to take the helmet off, looking at him with one yellow eye.

"Asgore thought you might be out here. He saw you teleport away." Undyne said, sitting down beside Gaster and looking over at him. "You okay doc?" Gaster just shook his head, looking over at her with tear-stained cheekbones. "...You saw Grillby... Asgore didn't even know... His daughter's pretty happy though." Gaster just nodded, turning back and sighing.

"...He said he left her... For me... But... That was twenty years ago..." Gaster whispered as Undyne laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sans... And Papy... They're all grown... My boys... My babies..." He whispered, the very words sounding broken.

"Paps wants to be a part of the Guard... He... Asgore told him about you... When Sans wasn't around. He wanted to make you proud. And I'm sure that he'll ignore Sans's wants and make peace with you. If you want it." Undyne smiled a little as Gaster looked up at her, hope lighting his eyesockets once again. "But you need to get better before that happens. He won't like it if you come by reeking of booze and sorrow." Gaster laughed a little, wiping his face.

"Yes I... Suppose you're right on that Undyne... Thank you..." He whispered, causing her to smile and stand, offering a hand for him. "I... May need assistance back to my home... I do not think I can walk." He admitted softly, causing her to snicker and shake her head as he took her hand.

"I'll help you doc. We'll get you back on your feet. In both ways." She teased, causing the doctor/scientist to huff and shake his head. He was soon pulled upright, flinching at his knee snapping with a vicious pop which even caused the Captain to pale. "That sounded like it hurt."

"It did... Thank you for that Undyne." He mumbled, leaning against her heavily. "I need to bring my cane with me everywhere now... At least until I'm numb enough to the pain of a broken heart to not teleport away constantly." He joked, a small smile spreading across his face. Undyne tried not to look exasperated at the terrible joke, rolling her eye and wrapping an arm around him to help him back to Snowdin.

The walk back was quiet, filled with a comfortable silence between the two, and relatively uneventful—minus the small encounters with a few monsters along the way, who were shocked to see the mighty Royal Scientist and Ex-General of the Royal Guard so weakened. Gaster couldn't help but be ashamed; he had once been a true monster on the battlefield and now... He needed help to just walk. They arrived in Snowdin, Undyne opening his front door for the tall skeleton and helping him inside where Asgore was waiting.

"What were you thinking?! Teleporting to some random location, having no direction? What would happen if you were teleported back into the Core? What would happen if you had teleported somewhere where you couldn't get out?!" Asgore yelled, causing Gaster to tense up.

"That would be better than this pain Asgore! The aching broken pain of my very being! At least in the Core, I felt no emotional pain! It was only the constant pain of every molecule of my body being destroyed and repaired over and over. It's no wonder I felt it was only a moment in time; instead it was twenty fucking years!" He screamed back, Asgore glaring at the other.

"And what would we say to Papyrus? Hmm? What would we tell your sons? That 'daddy' vanished again? That he wanted nothing to do with them anymore?" Asgore roared, causing Gaster to summon a Blaster, the very action sending him to lean back against the door. Asgore pulled out a trident and the two seemed to be getting ready to start a fight before Undyne immediately stepped in between the two older monsters, holding up two spears.

"Both of you stop! You might be my elders, but this needs to stop. You're friends and you'll always be friends no matter what happens between you two. But you can't fight over this... Asgore, he had every reason to teleport away. Don't you wish you could have teleported away when Toriel left you? When Asriel and Chara died?" Undyne waited for the king to slowly nod and dispel his trident, looking down at the floor.

"And Gaster, when you had your breakdown after the war, who was it that stood beside you? Who made sure you lived even when you had yourself locked away and tried starving yourself? Who was it that took you in?" Gaster slowly closed his eyesockets and waved the Blaster away, slowly opening his eyesockets to look at Undyne. "You two are more than friends. You're brothers. And you are acting like it. But you need to stop. You both have been through hell and back together; doesn't that count for something?"

Asgore just nodded, looking up at Gaster who nodded with him, sighing deeply. "I am... Sorry old friend... I just... Did not want you to end up gone again... I do not think I could handle that, much less your sons handling it again." Asgore spoke, his voice calm and steady but Gaster knew the king was fighting back anger.

"...I do not think I could handle it again... The Core, no the Void, was the most painful thing I have ever experienced..." He whispered, moving slowly to limp over to the stairs. "I am going to take a bath... A long one... To try and wash the stench of sorrow and depression off... Before I confront my lover and sons..." Gaster slowly went up the stairs, leaving Asgore and Undyne down below.

The bath was the same as the shower; over half of his time was spent staring at the scar—again—while the other half was spent trying to keep the painful reminder of his mistakes from aching and burning from the sting of the water. He laid under the water, his eyesockets open and looking up at the ceiling. How could he apologize to his son, to his baby Papy?

The poor skeleton had only been a year old when Gaster had disappeared... And he knew that Sans had probably tried filling his skull with hatred towards his father.

He brought his hands up, rubbing his face with the palm-less bones before sitting up to let the water drain from his skull. He drained the tub and climbed out, his joints protesting as he stood with a crack, popping his spine. Groaning he walked into the bedroom, sighing and gathering his clothes. He didn't get dressed right away, spending some time staring at his bones in the mirror.

How could they love him?

With all his scars and dings, he must be an ugly sight. He closed his eyesockets, willing those thoughts away again before taking a deep breath. He got dressed again after finally pulling away from the mirror, pulling a cream-colored sweater on with black slacks, sitting down on the bed to reach down to slide his feet into black dress shoes.

He walked downstairs, looking around for his brother and friend but upon finding them both gone, he grabbed his lab-coat, took a deep breath, and opened the door to walk outside in the snow. He was going to talk to Papyrus, attempt to fix things, and have his son—or sons—back with him. He was going to at least try to fix things with Sans; he still loved the other skeleton with all his soul and if it didn't work, he had at least tried...

Asgore couldn't fault him for that.

He turned to lock the door, but he stopped in his tracks after taking only one step off the porch, eyesockets wide at the image in front of him. Walking in front of his house and appearing to head back to their own, was Papyrus and a human girl—no, she was a woman—a human woman, who caused his very soul to ache.

It was Her.

She was here.

She was **beautiful**.

Gaster couldn't help but stare, watching the skeletal arm wrap around her body to keep her coat shut in the wind. He couldn't hear what Papyrus was saying but the girl standing next to him was laughing and Gaster could almost hear the angelic voice of his soulmate. He could almost feel the warm beating of her heart and the magic thrumming in her soul, calling him towards her. It made sense that her soul was calling him; they were soulmates after all.

He almost took a step towards them but caught himself, knowing that if he did so, he would teleport the rest of the way.

He couldn't believe she was down here, but yet—there she was, laughing and smiling at Papyrus's tales. What had happened to make her come down to their hellhole, their enforced prison? What hardships had she been through that made her flinch away from anyone—even his soft-hearted son—moving to touch her back?

He could hear her words, could feel her—even the old lives—touching his cheekbones in a soft caress. He could smell her hair, his nasal bone buried in it as they slept together, legs intertwined. He could feel her lips on his as they- He stopped that train of thought, looking down at his hands before looking back up at her.

How could someone like that love him?

He was a literally monster; more so than the rest of the monsters down here.

He had killed so many humans during the War that if she ever found out... She'd hate him. She'd curse the day they met, and she'd run back to Sans; he was assuming she was living with them since Papyrus was with her. He couldn't help but be saddened by the thought that... Maybe he was too late, maybe Sans hadn't even told her about him.

That did seem like something the shorter skeleton would do.

Speaking of the shorter skeleton, he soon joined Papyrus and his other half, handing her a single flower which caused him to frown. She just rolled her eyes though, handing it back to him and saying something quieter than the laugh. He tried not to look pleased by that reaction, watching them walk along the snowy road. Monsters walked around between them, but she was never once blocked from his view.

His soul knew where she was and that was more of a comfort to him than anything Asgore or Undyne could say... He knew that she was here, and he had a chance to be hers... And he had a chance for her to be his... If he didn't mess this up.

And then purple eyes met blank eyesockets, and she smiled a little; and he knew it would all be okay.


End file.
